By David Leon Moore, USA TODAY
FRANKFURT, Germany � U.S. women's soccer coach Pia Sundhage doesn't divulge much about her starting lineups before the next match, especially when she hasn't even told her players, who don't learn who's starting until the night before the match.
By Jens Meyer, AP
After serving a red-card suspension in the semifinals, defender Rachel Buehler will be back in the starting lineup for the U.S. in the World Cup final.
By Jens Meyer, AP
After serving a red-card suspension in the semifinals, defender Rachel Buehler will be back in the starting lineup for the U.S. in the World Cup final.
She made an exception Saturday afternoon, however, when asked off to the side after her news conference if there was any reason defender Rachel Buehler wouldn't be back in the lineup for Sunday's World Cup final against Japan after serving a one-game suspension for drawing a red card against Brazil.
Sundhage, who has been masterful in pushing all the right buttons in this tournament, smiled and started to walk away.
Then, in a semi-whisper, she said, "She'll be back."
Well, of course she will.
Buehler, 25, of Del Mar, Calif., might be one of the most unsung of the American players on this suddenly wildly popular team.
But she is also one of the toughest players on the team, a woman her teammates call "Buehldozer" because of her hard tackling and physical play.
And she is also one of the smartest, an academic All-American from Stanford who has been accepted to medical school at the University of California-San Diego.
She is also completely devoted to Sundhage's all-for-one, team-first approach.
That's why Sundhage, despite Buehler's not-so-obvious soccer skills, was named co-captain of the team last year and is basically a captain-in-waiting to the other U.S. center back, 36-year-old Christie Rampone.
"Rachel is very important to have in there with Christie," Sundhage says. "They bring out the best in each other. Rachel is very good in the air, and she's a fighter. I trust her 100% and, of course, that is contagious."
Buehler and Rampone figure to be under immense pressure Sunday from a dynamic, technical, skillful Japanese attack that excels in keeping possession of the ball to try to maximize scoring chances.
Japan is led by team captain Homare Sawa, a 32-year-old midfielder who is playing in her fifth World Cup and has scored four goals in five matches in the tournament.
Sawa has played often against the U.S. and has been a teammate and opponent of American players in the U.S. women's pro league, so she knows what to expect.
The last two times she went up against the Americans, the U.S. women won 2-0 in two friendlies in Columbus, Ohio, and Cary, N.C., in May. Going back to 1986, the U.S. is 22-0-3 against Japan and leads in goals 77-13.
But Japan has found itself in Germany, shocking the hosts and then upsetting Sweden, with the coach and players saying they realize they are playing not only for themselves but also for a nation recovering from a massive earthquake and tsunami in March.
"We beat Germany and Sweden," Sawa says. "Why shouldn't we be confident?"
That confidence Saturday took a surprising turn.
In the last news conference before the match, Japanese coach Norio Sasaki was asked about the U.S. plan to try to keep possession to slow down Japan's attack.
"Possession of the ball should not be a problem," he said. "We will steal it and score."
If they don't get Buehldozed.
Buehler has been a rock on the back line all year for the Americans, but she missed perhaps the most impressive moments of the team's run to the World Cup final, having received a red card for getting tangled up with Brazilian forward Marta in the second half of the quarterfinal classic a week ago.
Her teammates survived 59 minutes of 10-vs.-11 soccer, eventually winning in a penalty-kick shootout. Afterward, they said part of their motivation was to win it for Buehler, whom they believed was the victim of a bad call by the referee.
Buehler, who had never before been red-carded, agrees.
"I don't think I did anything wrong," she says. "I was surprised it was even a penalty kick, because I thought we were battling fairly for the ball.
"I actually have a photo with my foot at the ball, and Marta's up in the air. She throws herself up in the air and I'm sure from the referee's angle it looked dangerous or suspicious or whatever. But I know what my intentions were. I was just going for the ball."
She said she's gotten a lot of support in the aftermath of the call.
"Everybody's been so great to me," she says. "Facebook messages, e-mails, phone calls, basically a lot of people supporting me and taking my side."
Now she's back.
"I'm always so excited and honored any time I can step onto the field," she says. "To do it in a World Cup final, that will be absolutely amazing."
She hopes to keep playing soccer for a while. Her med-school acceptance has been deferred. And even though she'd probably make a lot more money as a doctor than a defender, the money isn't why she will pursue medicine one day and it certainly isn't why she pursued soccer.
"I've always wanted to be a doctor because I wanted to help people," she says. "That's why I love soccer, the interactions with my teammates and the connections I make with them on the field, and also the connections with the little girls who follow us.
"It's all about connections with people, and I love that."
On Sunday, it might be about connecting with Homare Sawa.
more football news more cricket news more golf news more baseball news more soccer news
No comments:
Post a Comment